I have disability pass so this doesn’t affect me and in my opinion lighting lane should be 10-15 minute wait because some people have disabilities and can’t wait in long lines as making lighting lane not fast would be a problem
My family went to Disneyland after the new Genie+ app with lighting lane. We paid thousands of dollars just to get into the parks and then they told us we had to pay extra for the experience we used to get from Disney before this shameless money grab was put in place. I for one won’t be visiting Disney and spending that kinda of money until they value everyone’s experience over money the way they used to. I believe Walt is rolling over in his grave. This wasn’t his dream!
People Cant help if they have a disability You cant tell someone not to go to disney if you cant wait in a line . Everyones Disability is different some have mobility issues some worse than others. Dont blame those with disabilities for making the lightning lanes long. Other than that as someone who goes yo the park and is a Cast member Alot of us agree with you. I feel they should make it even for those in standby by sometimes the rides just back up so when waiting to load and everything takes a while to get the lines and to keep the flow going. We do appreciate alot of the Guests for waiting patiently during the long lines . and the lightning lane issue is yhe same as families going into the single rider lines all of them splitting up and wanting to sit together even though they end up in the single rider line . there’s alot of things that urkes everyones nerve and makes us upset
I understand the frustrations of upset fans because those Disney is treating as less worthy are in fact the repeat vistors while the whales who spend bigger on a particular trip tend to be one-and-done allocentric travelers who aren’t into making psychocentric pilgrimages to places built for the masses with long winding railings etc.
You do have alternatives to getting torn up by the Disney PR machine you are certain to encounter on message boards such as this. Move on. You can see the world for no more than many of you spending to get to Disney World. Disney will mourn you, but you won’t miss them as much as you might think because you’ll be having too much fun.
If I am paying a premium to experience a faster queue, the I better be “treated” accordingly and move through the line faster and those in standby can standby. I do standby and lighting line while in the parks some even on the same day. I don’t complain when LL goes before me while I’ve been waiting forever to get on. I chose standby no one forced me. Seriously, it’s like paying for basic economy and then complaining that premium or first class get treated better.
Once again the rich can afford to cut in line while those that probably may never get another chance to go due to the outrageous cost get left behind. Greed has ruined Disney in every way.
Get over YOURself. Selfish people thinking of only one! A family of four will easily spend $1,200 for tickets, meals and beverages during the day and if they’re lucky, maybe a set of ears or some other keepsake for the kids. Depending where they’re from, add $100 for a tank of gas. Now add another $80-100 for LL.
It is $20 per person to use genie+,Mario, PLUS the cost of each ride to get in the lightening lane. With a family of four you are spending at least $80 a day for genie+. Then depending on the ride you are spending another$75-$100 or more to get in the lightening lane. This is on top of the ticket you pay for each family member to get in the park originally. Disney is going to become the park for the elitist because they will be the only ones who can afford to go.
Question. Aren’t the rides unsafe for disabled people to ride? I know 6flags has signs at every ride, not safe for people with back problems, neck problems, heart conditions etc.
There are hundreds and hundreds, if not more, disabilities than what a roller coaster park mentions. On top of that, people with those specific disabilities are able to enjoy most of Disneyland’s rides.
they need to have a separate line for the morbidly obese scooter people. let 1 of them in for every 100 SB customers. I am sick to death of them jumping the line because of their weight issues. also they cause the rides to constantly stop. and they probably break things with their body mass.
I’ve been on rides with obese people and the rides 100% operate differently and not in a good way, especially Splash Mountain.. I thought we were going to sink one time. I hope everytime I get on that ride that obese people won’t join me for the ride.
I’m sorry I’m not trying to be mean and if it comes off as mean I’m sorry and I have obese friends and love them!
Does anyone see this as wealthy favoritism??? You poor kids wait right here while the rich ones get priority. Shame on you Disney! Fast pass was the same. Hey rich people! Your privileged line is over here!
There are no poor kids at Disney. They were priced out at the entry gate. It’s more of a rich vs middle class argument. But this is not unique to Disney. Poor kids ride on busses and have to get up early and wait in the cold to go to school, while rich ones are taken in a climate controlled car right to the front door. Same thing. I’m not saying if it’s right or wrong, it’s just part of living in a capitalist society.
Dan… Do you not know how capitalism works? “Give you this for that, and that for this.”
They PAID for extra stuff so they GET extra stuff. If you can’t handle that, then I hear Cuba isn’t too far away.
KC, a family of four will easily spend $1,200 for tickets, at least two meals each and beverages during the day and if they’re lucky, maybe a set of ears or some other keepsake for the kids. Depending where they’re from, add $100 for a tank of gas. Now add another $80-100 for LL. It’s not so cheap now, is it?
Sounds like every other family that goes to the resorts as well. If you don’t have the money to spend then consider someplace cheaper like Six Flags or Busch Gardens.
Listen, Walt built this park so that All families could go and enjoy a magical experience, but the magical experience is being taken away more and more everyday because of the greed. Not everyone can afford to go to Disney but those who scrimp and save to take their family should be able to have the same experience as those that don’t give a damn how they throw their riches around. Walt wanted every family to be able to experience the magic.
You have to pay again for some rides… so “It’s just $xx.xx” isn’t fully true. It’s $20.00 for Genie +, but then you may have to pay again for certain rides.
Why does it not occur to people that they already paid to get in to ride? Then they pay again to ride faster? I love Disney, have an annual pass but this LL is pure price gouging and people are actually paying it. It’s unbelievable.
Think of all the young families who save up enough to take their trip of a lifetime… only to be squeezed out because these new policies are so expensive.
Do you think Disney is making these changes to help park goers or are they doing it out of greed? It’s sad
When people had a fast pass, before genie+, they almost always got priority. I’d watch them go by while we all waited. What’s the big deal? That’s what fast passes (before genie+) and genie+ are about. It’s not rocket science
Wrong. I’m against LL, it was the final straw for me and I didn’t return after the pandemic. However, as a former longtime AP holder, we never got priority access to rides simply because we had an AP. If you saw a special line going in that wasn’t Fast Pass or regular, my guess is it was the DAS line for those with disabilities.
That happens everyday there. You go through the stand by line and then you get to a point when a cast member stops the whole line and lets the lightning people cut past you. We were stopped multiple times right up to that point. My daughter complained to the cast member when we were stopped at Big Thunder. It’s worse when a ride goes down. The ride is running again and 200 lightning lane people show up.
I have never seen a ride put less paid line cutters than normal guests through. “Standby” is an apt name since you are reduced to waiting for holes in the cutters.
Please! Don’t go. Let those who save for years, don’t go into massive credit card debt, have a better time with fewer people and less complaining. No good quality vacation (or anything else) is cheap. Never was, never will be.
Oh I’m 71 & disabled. Some rides I can’t do. Some I’m sad about, none I complain about.
We are here today. It is so crowded that it is hard to have fun because you are an hour long lines for a five minute ride. We are also discovering that some of the rides moved too hard for our aging spines. We are feeling sad because it feels like the end of an age for us.
Hi there. My name is Scott and I have to admit that I drive a Kia Rio. What I think I should drive is a Escalade. But you know what I did not do, blow up an internet board saying Cadillac is greedy and they charge too much. No, I realized that I could only afford a Kia and I drive to work each day in that Kia. And guess what, Disney is no different. When I can’t afford Disney I choose to either save more or go to Six Flags instead. But I don’t complain. And when I go to Six Flags, I wait in the standby line because I can not afford the Flash Pass. But I do not complain that they did not have to wait and I did. Why? Because I can not afford the price. Is Six Flags greedy for charging for the Flash Pass line? Of course not. The Demand is higher for Disney than to attend Six Flags so I know that it will cost more to go to Disney. Catch a clue, I think they are actually on clearance and discounted. Why, because demand is down for clues. So the price went down. That is how an economy works, nothing to do with greed.
The problem with your argument is we all paid to get in the car. Disney needs to limit the lightning line like they did with fast passes or cut the number of people they let in. I’m paying around a grand for a family of five and get on maybe four rides. It’s nuts and why I stopped my annual passes. I got to SeaWorld, the fun spot and Lego land now. Less people, more rides and a lot less money.
Hi Scott, my name is Sherri. Did you pay for a freaking Escalade? No. Everybody pays to get into Disneyland to ride the same rides. When you do get that Escalade, the same one that all the other Escalade owners have, you won’t mind having to pay more to drive it more, right? Yes? I agree, why should you? You already paid for it. That was purely hypothetical but LL holders pay more and get more rides in for the day with a direct result in others getting in less rides ever though they paid the same price to get in to ride these rides. The answer isn’t don’t go if you can’t afford it. Imagine then if everyone had a LL. They’d be worthless until Disney figured out a tiered payment for them.
Had this happen to us last June, 60 min standby line took 2 1/2 hours, when we finally made it ti front of the line we found out why, cast member was letting forty ( not exaggerated, I counted 3 times) lighting lane people through, then would only let one group from standby go before another forty from lighting lane. Very sad the rapid decline of the Disney company in whole.
I am not better just smarter. You already pay $150+ for a ticket, if you can’t pay $20 there are much cheaper parks. Don’t even start on food or souvenirs. You go for the rides and the magic. Spend the $20 on LL is just the smarter decision. Now go crawl back to your troll cave
Remember a simpler time from when we had fast pass? Want to know the best thing about it? It was free. Does Chapek want Disney to die? Because that is literally what he is doing.
Disney is not dying. I go every month and the crowds are bigger than ever.
It is sad though that everyone is glued to their phones trying to figure out Genie. With FP you could plan your day ahead and have a great time.
You can do the same with Genie. It’s just newer. They actually advise you on the app to plan your day before the park opens for maximum benefit. Of course you check your phone to confirm times and what not. But if you pay the premium, it’s fair to skip the line. Simple.
What I don’t like is now the DAS have to go inline with the lightning lane and because of this you still have to stand 20-30 minutes. I have disability that I can not stand for long and they don’t allow my scooter in most lines so I have to get a push one and then most rides only have 1-2 of these available. So this means I can’t ride. Disney has changed and if you are disabled to bad Disney does not care.
This actually sounds great. I’m sick of the morbidly obese people on scooters jumping to the front of the line. They should have to wait like everyone else. Not sure if you are among the truly disabled or just the fat people. but the fat people are ruining it for everyone else.
It is an unfair and imperfect system and blatantly unfair to those who can not afford to pay more than their already exorbitant prices. I agree, the Fast Pass did seem to have worked better. Many families suffer thru – but I won’t be going back.
I remember when there was not even fast path. Everyone stood in one line, everyone took there turn, no queue jumping(it was prevented by cast member) and mostly people were nice to one another. Fast path and Genie+ is divisive but Fast path was fairer
Just want to note that the old Fastpass system had 3 different levels for the ratios depending on how long the Fastpass lane was. The normal ratio was 4:1. If it reached a certain point in the queue, it would become 4:1 + 10. If the line was especially long, it would become 10:1.
Definitely noticed! They were taking 25 or more from lightning lane and then waited a few more minutes for additional lightning lane before finally allowing 6 to 10 people from standby.
We were just at Magic Kingdom for Halloween party onOct 10th. We were in love to see JackSkellington & Sally right after the fireworks show. The line was fairly short so we thought it wouldn’t take that long. WRONG!! They only let standby people in if there wasn’t anyone in LL. I understand that you have to pay for LL passes so you should get some priority, but that was absolutely ridiculous. What should have taken 20 -30 minutes max took almost an hoor & a half. No system is totally perfect but this one is horrible. The 1time I did pay for genie plus, the system in the app didn’t even work so we got almost zero benefit from it.
I’ve noticed this too!! The last time I was in Animal Kingdom and attempting to ride Na’vi River Journey, they were spending five to seven minutes not only letting through all of the lightning lane passengers but actually waiting for them when it was empty. They barely let the standby move. Completely ridiculous, and I wholeheartedly agree that FastPass+ never did this. They gave out way too many, but they never let it through faster than standby. They have a shorter que for a reason!
They need to “feather” the guest in. Allow a group of one side then the other. It’s not at all fair to allow 2 or 3 times the number of those in the “paid line.” Good grief the tickets for admission are already astronomical! Now they want to gouge again for so called “lightening passes”??
I wish common sense would return. The free passes worked very well, now Disney is just plain greedy & guest are not experiencing the “magic”
Quite your crying, life isn’t fair deal with it. Pony up and pay for the LL pass and be one of us, that doesn’t have to wait in line. I go 2 times a week and I alway use LL I absolutely love it.
What I truly hate the most over crowded standby and lightning lanes is that everyone now a days have disability passes when they’re not disabled. I see like groups of 10-20 people going front of the line with no disability. It’s so annoying
yeah this is the worst. the morbidly obese people jumping to the front simply because they eat too much. I’d love to see them have to stand around for hours like the normal people.
So many nasty comments here, and many sound like they’re coming from selfish entitled jerks. Here’s the nutshell of it all…. Disney created Disneyland as a place of magical wonder and always wanted it to be an inclusive peaceful and joyful experience. The fast pass should never have happened. All the new things should never happen and cause divisive problems as well as making it not inclusionary.
Last, all the entitled people should remove your comments. Adults are hardly a good example and Disneyland is supposed to be for the kids. The adults are ruining it. Completely ruining this place for kids with your comments and immaturity.
I am disabled and want to take my grandkids to Disneyland, I am bringing my husband to stand in lines with the kids on rides I know I should avoid we are looking at it as teaching patience to them yes the rides I can ride we will be utilizing my disability pass but majority they will be in standby lines.
If you don’t want to wait in the standby line PAY for Genie+ and stop moaning about those that do.
Also, Michelle, quit with adults ruining things, Disney is NOT just for kids!
If anyone doesn’t like the way things work ~ and I admit I’m not happy with some but I suck it up ~ don’t go!!!!
If you want to really save money, make friends with someone that works there that can get you in for free, problem solved because now you have the money for the extras! LOL
ITS THE WAY TO GO KIDS!
You contradicted yourself with the inclusive comment then saying it’s not for adults. Make up your mind, Karen. Also, people that pay for certain privileges should certainly be “entitled” to those privileges.
I went to Disneyland in Anaheim for my birthday last week. My favorite ride, Star Tours, was a 25min standby, or at least that was what it said… My partner and I got into the area where the standby and lightning lanes are next to eachother. (It didn’t help a cast member let the couple behind us go into the lightning lane because they made they cast member laugh.) This is where for every 5 guests in the standby lane go, the cast member at the top of the queue before the last room let every person in the lightning lane go. What was supposed to be a 25min standby turned into an hour and 15 minutes.
I love Disneyland, this bit was one of the many examples of my 3-day park hopper where I don’t think I’ll go again. For the last 15 years it has been my birthday trip, but the magic has run out. I’m glad I was at least able to see a mostly working World of Color this last trip.
When were our shortest waits? I will tell you. We go to Disney quite often, and have noticed the standby and the lightning lanes get slower (lightning when compared to fast pass. My suspicion is that more LL are sold a day then FP were given out, as it’s an income source. That seems to be the case, as well, from the comments here about cast card ratios). So essentially LL becomes a paid slower version of FP. Stand by is also slower, for obvious reasons. So, when was the shortest average wait time we experienced? It was back when capacity was up at the end of 2021, but there were no fast passes or lightning lanes yet. Yup, the good old fashioned every body waits their turn method. Those two months were AWESOME! The longest we ever waited was 35 mins, but most were a ten minute wait and we weren’t glued to our phones. We were able to ride all the rides at a park in one day, with plenty of time to spare. After experiencing that, I just wish they would do away with any sort of shortened line system. It was a much better experience.
I’ve been to animal kingdom last week, and in Navi Rivers, we had a 50 min SB line, with my own eyes I saw Disney WAITING for LL guests to arrive, sending EMPTY BOATS and not letting SB guests in.
Nobody told me this, Ive seen it myself. DISNEY is making SB lines longer on purpose.
Capitalism does work. When people stop paying to go to Disney because the product is devalued, Disney will change their ways. But as long as people are pouring in, still handing over their hard-earned money, they have no incentive to change. Thankfully I went under the old Fastpass system and was able to effectively plan our experience without encountering much line delays. Personally I wouldn’t go back to Disney unless I could afford the Lightning Lanes or VIP experience. I just don’t know how anyone could enjoy themselves standing in hour lines for almost every ride.
it’s time to take the rose colored glasses off of Disney and recognize it for what it is, a business machine. Their marketing, with their cute characters, pastel colors, and catchy tunes has fooled people into believing it’s some utopian fantasy world. Go to corporate headquarters and you’ll find out how “utopian” Disney is.
But I do have to chuckle at the irony I’m seeing here. there are millions (billions) of people who can’t even afford to go to Disney at all who are looking at the people crying about the Lightning Lane and calling you guys entitled. the same way you’re calling lightning Lane people entitled. Fact of the matter is there’s always going to be someone who can afford something you can’t. That’s just life.
People need to think of Disney like an airplane in which everybody has paid for a seat on the plane, but first class is awfully different. They get to board first, sit in larger seats with more leg room, served better food. Nobody complains about that because we recognize they paid enormously for that privilege. Same at Disney now. Everybody’s paid for an admission, but Lightning Lane is awfully different and has created a tier, class system divide.
So many people feel Disney owes them something. Why? You chose to go. You chose to spend over $100 for admission, after seeing report after report about how devalued the experience is now. And yet you still went then cry about what you already knew to be the case and demand Disney change because you’re unhappy. Now who’s the entitled one?
Disney is not a drug you’re addicted to. It’s not oxygen you need to breathe. You don’t HAVE to go.
laissez-faire capitalism does work. It’s just we’ve never had it. There’s governmental intervention in every aspect of business. There are no free markets, which is the inherent premise of capitalism. But anyway, my argument remains. If people stop going to disney, Disney would change. Because they want your money.
What Disney has done is make the paid lightning lane the regular standby line with the stand by waits and the unpaid stand by the scum class wait line. They did offer a faster line bypass, they made just made you pay for the stand by or you can just wait for much, much longer for “free”.
On a recent trip in late August we found 30 t0 40 lightening lane and genie + guests allowed in to ride que and 5 or10 stand by guests. Seemed a bit lopsided to us. It made the standby lane very slow. I understand letting paying customers have an advantage but the ratio was not fair.
What kind of frosted me in terms of “priority treatment” was when I was on Smugglers Run, I was in the single rider line and I was either the shooter or mechanic. Never the pilot. I was able to go on 5 times in a row. On the 6th, while we were waiting for the line to come up, I asked the cast member “On average, how many times are single riders the pilot?”. Not to have that spot, but to get a better picture as I hadn’t ever been to Disney before. Her response? “About never”. So, I felt that I didn’t matter as a solo traveller compared to other group sizes, regardless of whether or not I purchased Lightning Lanes. Just something to keep in mind.
I was in the single rider line for Smugglers, and I asked if I could be a pilot, and the cast member just let me do so.
If you ask, they’re usually accommodating.
We were at Disney world the week of October 2, 2022.
We chose to go on the Peter Pan Ride which listed a 20 minute wait. We were on the stand by line for over 2 hours.
When we finally got close enough to see why the long delay. We found that while there were 3 or four cast members. Only one was managing the lines. He let only lighting lane guest go through and only standby were allowed when there where no more lighting lane people. In addition the people from the lighting lane were quite rude to us when they walked past us. Now I understand and agree it you pay the fee you should get a quicker result. Most other rides to from 10 to1 up to 30 to1 and standby actually has fairly continuous movement. But this was ridiculous. In addition the cast.mber heard us complaining amount ourselves and asked if we were step aside after the ride as a manager wish to speak to us. She only kept saying
We want all guest to have a positive experience. Quite the canned answer that translated to we really do not care.
Need to do better for all.
Ps. We also used lighting lane for some rides. And still felt like it was fair to do a mix of both lighting lane and standby.
Friendly reminder that the cast members that work the lines have no control over how many people they let through at a time. They have rules that they have to follow whether they agree with the system or not (and many of them don’t) so please be kind to them. Don’t yell at them or complain to them because it’s not their fault, and many people treat them like it is. I think most of us can agree that this system is unfair, but please don’t take it out on your regular cast members. They’re just doing what they’re told to do, and they’ll get in trouble if they don’t. If you have a problem, talking to someone higher up would be more beneficial (though they will likely not be able to do anything about it either unfortunately)
So, basically if you don’t buy Genie+ and or LL you are paying a high price just to walk around the parks. That is why our upcoming trip in the spring will be the last time we go to Walt Disney World.
Wowzers, didn’t have time to read all comments. Planning my trip for a 3rd visit from Australia too Disney. The price goes up, so what…we pay it, that’s life! If you don’t have the money, don’t go. Simple really. As to Walt and his visions….. Won’t be the first, won’t be the last to stray from a founders core values. It’s a business people.
They found a popular system everyone was using for free. It now has created another revenue stream. Squeezing every last penny out of their happy guests.
Since the new CEO took over, Disney is no longer the happiest place on earth. There is no more prebooking of your rides until the day you are in the park. Genie+ is a total rip off and they know it!
After my last visit to Disney they can keep there overrated psrk. Too many people and all there extra charges. Park is now for only wealthy people not the average person . Not the old Disney anymore. My take you can have it ,will not go again had a miserable experience.
The system is broken. They need to go back to the ticket books & have no entrance fee. If you want to ride something, then everyone pays individually for it. If you don’t because the line is too long, then skip it.
Nothing magical about Disney anymore. Paid almost $2,500 to take the family on a long-awaited vacation, only to stand there like second class citizens as all the rich people cut in line all day.
Comments for Guests Heartbroken as More Lightning Lane Than Standby Guests Sent Through Disney Ride Queues
Steve
They paid a huge premium, of course, they get priority.
Emily
I have disability pass so this doesn’t affect me and in my opinion lighting lane should be 10-15 minute wait because some people have disabilities and can’t wait in long lines as making lighting lane not fast would be a problem
Mario
Then don’t go to Disneyland if you can’t wait in line. Nobody is forcing you to be there. Be grateful they even give you the option.
Christy
Mario, thats really insensitive. Everything is harder with a disability. You obviously have no clue.
Mickey
No Christy, you have no clue. DAS is a great service and you are just being a karen…
Sherri
Mackey, Christy was replying to Mario. Look above her comment, that’s who your comment should be directed at.
Summer
My family went to Disneyland after the new Genie+ app with lighting lane. We paid thousands of dollars just to get into the parks and then they told us we had to pay extra for the experience we used to get from Disney before this shameless money grab was put in place. I for one won’t be visiting Disney and spending that kinda of money until they value everyone’s experience over money the way they used to. I believe Walt is rolling over in his grave. This wasn’t his dream!
Dee
That is a very very rude statement
Coral
People Cant help if they have a disability You cant tell someone not to go to disney if you cant wait in a line . Everyones Disability is different some have mobility issues some worse than others. Dont blame those with disabilities for making the lightning lanes long. Other than that as someone who goes yo the park and is a Cast member Alot of us agree with you. I feel they should make it even for those in standby by sometimes the rides just back up so when waiting to load and everything takes a while to get the lines and to keep the flow going. We do appreciate alot of the Guests for waiting patiently during the long lines . and the lightning lane issue is yhe same as families going into the single rider lines all of them splitting up and wanting to sit together even though they end up in the single rider line . there’s alot of things that urkes everyones nerve and makes us upset
wesley
>You cant tell someone not to go to disney if you cant wait in a line.<
Sure you can. Millions of people have managed to get by without a trip to either resort in their lifetime and are still just fine.
Disneyfan
Option for what? Elaborate please
Sherri
It’s not an option. It’s the law. Disney is required to adhere to the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act.
Jason Laird
Exactly, totally 100% agree Sherri.
Mary
I understand the frustrations of upset fans because those Disney is treating as less worthy are in fact the repeat vistors while the whales who spend bigger on a particular trip tend to be one-and-done allocentric travelers who aren’t into making psychocentric pilgrimages to places built for the masses with long winding railings etc.
You do have alternatives to getting torn up by the Disney PR machine you are certain to encounter on message boards such as this. Move on. You can see the world for no more than many of you spending to get to Disney World. Disney will mourn you, but you won’t miss them as much as you might think because you’ll be having too much fun.
DisneyAdult
If I am paying a premium to experience a faster queue, the I better be “treated” accordingly and move through the line faster and those in standby can standby. I do standby and lighting line while in the parks some even on the same day. I don’t complain when LL goes before me while I’ve been waiting forever to get on. I chose standby no one forced me. Seriously, it’s like paying for basic economy and then complaining that premium or first class get treated better.
JP
How rude and discriminatory. Peoples with disabilities should be able to enjoy things too.
River
Once again the rich can afford to cut in line while those that probably may never get another chance to go due to the outrageous cost get left behind. Greed has ruined Disney in every way.
Mickey
Its $20 for the day. Get over yourself. If you can’t afford $20 you can’t afford disneyland…
Dcaca
Just $20 to get into the park!? That’s a steal!
Sherri
Get over YOURself. Selfish people thinking of only one! A family of four will easily spend $1,200 for tickets, meals and beverages during the day and if they’re lucky, maybe a set of ears or some other keepsake for the kids. Depending where they’re from, add $100 for a tank of gas. Now add another $80-100 for LL.
Mipooh
Then you obv
It is $20 per person to use genie+,Mario, PLUS the cost of each ride to get in the lightening lane. With a family of four you are spending at least $80 a day for genie+. Then depending on the ride you are spending another$75-$100 or more to get in the lightening lane. This is on top of the ticket you pay for each family member to get in the park originally. Disney is going to become the park for the elitist because they will be the only ones who can afford to go.
Nikki
Agreed! Walts dream was for all families to enjoy today’s Disney execs have a class system now that prioritizes the rich
River
Question. Aren’t the rides unsafe for disabled people to ride? I know 6flags has signs at every ride, not safe for people with back problems, neck problems, heart conditions etc.
Sherri
There are hundreds and hundreds, if not more, disabilities than what a roller coaster park mentions. On top of that, people with those specific disabilities are able to enjoy most of Disneyland’s rides.
Nick
Sure.. if they pay for it. Shouldnt be afforded a better experience than others simply for having a disability.
Kent
they need to have a separate line for the morbidly obese scooter people. let 1 of them in for every 100 SB customers. I am sick to death of them jumping the line because of their weight issues. also they cause the rides to constantly stop. and they probably break things with their body mass.
Jennifer
MORON!!
Gary
I sort of agree
I’ve been on rides with obese people and the rides 100% operate differently and not in a good way, especially Splash Mountain.. I thought we were going to sink one time. I hope everytime I get on that ride that obese people won’t join me for the ride.
I’m sorry I’m not trying to be mean and if it comes off as mean I’m sorry and I have obese friends and love them!
Dan
Does anyone see this as wealthy favoritism??? You poor kids wait right here while the rich ones get priority. Shame on you Disney! Fast pass was the same. Hey rich people! Your privileged line is over here!
Tracy
You didn’t have to pay for fast passes…you just got a ticket to come back at a different time.
Hugh G. Rection
Work hard and become a “rich kid” and stop standing in stand bye lamenting people who work hard.
Jamie
There are no poor kids at Disney. They were priced out at the entry gate. It’s more of a rich vs middle class argument. But this is not unique to Disney. Poor kids ride on busses and have to get up early and wait in the cold to go to school, while rich ones are taken in a climate controlled car right to the front door. Same thing. I’m not saying if it’s right or wrong, it’s just part of living in a capitalist society.
Logan
Dan… Do you not know how capitalism works? “Give you this for that, and that for this.”
They PAID for extra stuff so they GET extra stuff. If you can’t handle that, then I hear Cuba isn’t too far away.
River
Absolutely!! Disney is in the Greed business with greedy wealthy customers. I’ll never step foot in a Disney park and I dumped Disney+.
Marty
Yep. Social injustice.
KC
Not huge. It’s $15.00
Michelle D
Actually it starts at $20 now…prices just went up and they are now variable for how busy the parks are. It might be $30 or more during Christmas.
Sherri
KC, a family of four will easily spend $1,200 for tickets, at least two meals each and beverages during the day and if they’re lucky, maybe a set of ears or some other keepsake for the kids. Depending where they’re from, add $100 for a tank of gas. Now add another $80-100 for LL. It’s not so cheap now, is it?
wesley
Sounds like every other family that goes to the resorts as well. If you don’t have the money to spend then consider someplace cheaper like Six Flags or Busch Gardens.
Debbie
Listen, Walt built this park so that All families could go and enjoy a magical experience, but the magical experience is being taken away more and more everyday because of the greed. Not everyone can afford to go to Disney but those who scrimp and save to take their family should be able to have the same experience as those that don’t give a damn how they throw their riches around. Walt wanted every family to be able to experience the magic.
Bill
You have to pay again for some rides… so “It’s just $xx.xx” isn’t fully true. It’s $20.00 for Genie +, but then you may have to pay again for certain rides.
Pamela Dixon
Why does it not occur to people that they already paid to get in to ride? Then they pay again to ride faster? I love Disney, have an annual pass but this LL is pure price gouging and people are actually paying it. It’s unbelievable.
Brae
Think of all the young families who save up enough to take their trip of a lifetime… only to be squeezed out because these new policies are so expensive.
Do you think Disney is making these changes to help park goers or are they doing it out of greed? It’s sad
Carol
When people had a fast pass, before genie+, they almost always got priority. I’d watch them go by while we all waited. What’s the big deal? That’s what fast passes (before genie+) and genie+ are about. It’s not rocket science
Sherri
Wrong. I’m against LL, it was the final straw for me and I didn’t return after the pandemic. However, as a former longtime AP holder, we never got priority access to rides simply because we had an AP. If you saw a special line going in that wasn’t Fast Pass or regular, my guess is it was the DAS line for those with disabilities.
Marty
Most people don’t have money to spend on a “lightning pass” for their entire family. Social INJUSTICE favoring the wealthy.
beautiful gorgeous
That happens everyday there. You go through the stand by line and then you get to a point when a cast member stops the whole line and lets the lightning people cut past you. We were stopped multiple times right up to that point. My daughter complained to the cast member when we were stopped at Big Thunder. It’s worse when a ride goes down. The ride is running again and 200 lightning lane people show up.
Steve
I have never seen a ride put less paid line cutters than normal guests through. “Standby” is an apt name since you are reduced to waiting for holes in the cutters.
Charlie
This has always been a problem. Cast members must do a better job of being consistent with how many folks let through the lightning lanes.
Mickey
Simple solution, get lightning lanes and stop complaining. Such a karen…
Caca
What a db statement from a simpleton imbecile..
Mickey
Caca, are you that daft? Or just a standard internet troll?
Minnie
Just give me your credit card number.
Nikki
Agreed! Walts dream was for all families to enjoy today’s Disney execs have a class system now that prioritizes the rich
Steve
Disney is a scam. Don’t go.
Brenda
Please! Don’t go. Let those who save for years, don’t go into massive credit card debt, have a better time with fewer people and less complaining. No good quality vacation (or anything else) is cheap. Never was, never will be.
Oh I’m 71 & disabled. Some rides I can’t do. Some I’m sad about, none I complain about.
Becki
We are here today. It is so crowded that it is hard to have fun because you are an hour long lines for a five minute ride. We are also discovering that some of the rides moved too hard for our aging spines. We are feeling sad because it feels like the end of an age for us.
Julian Herring
Its quite simple really, greedy Disney have hugely oversold Geni plus for lightning lanes.
There is no end in their greed, shameful.
Scott Lee-Ross
Hi there. My name is Scott and I have to admit that I drive a Kia Rio. What I think I should drive is a Escalade. But you know what I did not do, blow up an internet board saying Cadillac is greedy and they charge too much. No, I realized that I could only afford a Kia and I drive to work each day in that Kia. And guess what, Disney is no different. When I can’t afford Disney I choose to either save more or go to Six Flags instead. But I don’t complain. And when I go to Six Flags, I wait in the standby line because I can not afford the Flash Pass. But I do not complain that they did not have to wait and I did. Why? Because I can not afford the price. Is Six Flags greedy for charging for the Flash Pass line? Of course not. The Demand is higher for Disney than to attend Six Flags so I know that it will cost more to go to Disney. Catch a clue, I think they are actually on clearance and discounted. Why, because demand is down for clues. So the price went down. That is how an economy works, nothing to do with greed.
Tom
Don’t go bringing logic into this discussion.
Only emotional responses please.
The alternative to this segmenting by willingness to pay is raising the overall price for tickets.
There is clearly demand at the price-points for Genie+
David
The problem with your argument is we all paid to get in the car. Disney needs to limit the lightning line like they did with fast passes or cut the number of people they let in. I’m paying around a grand for a family of five and get on maybe four rides. It’s nuts and why I stopped my annual passes. I got to SeaWorld, the fun spot and Lego land now. Less people, more rides and a lot less money.
Melissa
Well said.
Sherri
Hi Scott, my name is Sherri. Did you pay for a freaking Escalade? No. Everybody pays to get into Disneyland to ride the same rides. When you do get that Escalade, the same one that all the other Escalade owners have, you won’t mind having to pay more to drive it more, right? Yes? I agree, why should you? You already paid for it. That was purely hypothetical but LL holders pay more and get more rides in for the day with a direct result in others getting in less rides ever though they paid the same price to get in to ride these rides. The answer isn’t don’t go if you can’t afford it. Imagine then if everyone had a LL. They’d be worthless until Disney figured out a tiered payment for them.
Gene
The genie plus has a limit per hour per ride. The genie plus pass is only$15.
Michelle D
Actually Disney raised the prices. It is now starting at $20 and can go up as high as $30 during very busy days like Christmas.
jason
Had this happen to us last June, 60 min standby line took 2 1/2 hours, when we finally made it ti front of the line we found out why, cast member was letting forty ( not exaggerated, I counted 3 times) lighting lane people through, then would only let one group from standby go before another forty from lighting lane. Very sad the rapid decline of the Disney company in whole.
erjen
I saw a FB post of a LL cast card. Depending on what phase they are in, they let anywhere from 10LL for every 1 SB, up to 80LL for 15SB.
Mickey
Jason, you are cheap. If you can afford disney you can afford $20 genie+ stop complaining or don’t go to disney…
Oyf
Just lap it up, dis sycophant!
Bob
You just think you are better than everyone else because you have more money.
Mickey
I am not better just smarter. You already pay $150+ for a ticket, if you can’t pay $20 there are much cheaper parks. Don’t even start on food or souvenirs. You go for the rides and the magic. Spend the $20 on LL is just the smarter decision. Now go crawl back to your troll cave
Mason
Remember a simpler time from when we had fast pass? Want to know the best thing about it? It was free. Does Chapek want Disney to die? Because that is literally what he is doing.
Hclabrock
Disney is not dying. I go every month and the crowds are bigger than ever.
It is sad though that everyone is glued to their phones trying to figure out Genie. With FP you could plan your day ahead and have a great time.
Melissa
You can do the same with Genie. It’s just newer. They actually advise you on the app to plan your day before the park opens for maximum benefit. Of course you check your phone to confirm times and what not. But if you pay the premium, it’s fair to skip the line. Simple.
Vivica
What I don’t like is now the DAS have to go inline with the lightning lane and because of this you still have to stand 20-30 minutes. I have disability that I can not stand for long and they don’t allow my scooter in most lines so I have to get a push one and then most rides only have 1-2 of these available. So this means I can’t ride. Disney has changed and if you are disabled to bad Disney does not care.
Kent
This actually sounds great. I’m sick of the morbidly obese people on scooters jumping to the front of the line. They should have to wait like everyone else. Not sure if you are among the truly disabled or just the fat people. but the fat people are ruining it for everyone else.
Lynne
It is an unfair and imperfect system and blatantly unfair to those who can not afford to pay more than their already exorbitant prices. I agree, the Fast Pass did seem to have worked better. Many families suffer thru – but I won’t be going back.
Bella
Remember a simpler time when EVERYONE waited in 1 line and NOBODY got priority.
Shirley Evans
I remember when there was not even fast path. Everyone stood in one line, everyone took there turn, no queue jumping(it was prevented by cast member) and mostly people were nice to one another. Fast path and Genie+ is divisive but Fast path was fairer
Dk
Fast Pass
DK
Spot on.
Daniel
Just want to note that the old Fastpass system had 3 different levels for the ratios depending on how long the Fastpass lane was. The normal ratio was 4:1. If it reached a certain point in the queue, it would become 4:1 + 10. If the line was especially long, it would become 10:1.
Me
Definitely noticed! They were taking 25 or more from lightning lane and then waited a few more minutes for additional lightning lane before finally allowing 6 to 10 people from standby.
S L
We were just at Magic Kingdom for Halloween party onOct 10th. We were in love to see JackSkellington & Sally right after the fireworks show. The line was fairly short so we thought it wouldn’t take that long. WRONG!! They only let standby people in if there wasn’t anyone in LL. I understand that you have to pay for LL passes so you should get some priority, but that was absolutely ridiculous. What should have taken 20 -30 minutes max took almost an hoor & a half. No system is totally perfect but this one is horrible. The 1time I did pay for genie plus, the system in the app didn’t even work so we got almost zero benefit from it.
Madison Pendleton
I’ve noticed this too!! The last time I was in Animal Kingdom and attempting to ride Na’vi River Journey, they were spending five to seven minutes not only letting through all of the lightning lane passengers but actually waiting for them when it was empty. They barely let the standby move. Completely ridiculous, and I wholeheartedly agree that FastPass+ never did this. They gave out way too many, but they never let it through faster than standby. They have a shorter que for a reason!
KBC
They need to “feather” the guest in. Allow a group of one side then the other. It’s not at all fair to allow 2 or 3 times the number of those in the “paid line.” Good grief the tickets for admission are already astronomical! Now they want to gouge again for so called “lightening passes”??
I wish common sense would return. The free passes worked very well, now Disney is just plain greedy & guest are not experiencing the “magic”
Able
Quite your crying, life isn’t fair deal with it. Pony up and pay for the LL pass and be one of us, that doesn’t have to wait in line. I go 2 times a week and I alway use LL I absolutely love it.
Mario
This is what I expect if/when I pay for lightning lane access.
Roger
What I truly hate the most over crowded standby and lightning lanes is that everyone now a days have disability passes when they’re not disabled. I see like groups of 10-20 people going front of the line with no disability. It’s so annoying
jove
There are invisible disabilities, you doorknob. I can make my IBS very visible if you’d like, though. 😉
Kent
you jump to the front of the line because you have IBS? disgusting. stay home fatso
Kent
yeah this is the worst. the morbidly obese people jumping to the front simply because they eat too much. I’d love to see them have to stand around for hours like the normal people.
Michelle
So many nasty comments here, and many sound like they’re coming from selfish entitled jerks. Here’s the nutshell of it all…. Disney created Disneyland as a place of magical wonder and always wanted it to be an inclusive peaceful and joyful experience. The fast pass should never have happened. All the new things should never happen and cause divisive problems as well as making it not inclusionary.
Last, all the entitled people should remove your comments. Adults are hardly a good example and Disneyland is supposed to be for the kids. The adults are ruining it. Completely ruining this place for kids with your comments and immaturity.
Tisa
I am disabled and want to take my grandkids to Disneyland, I am bringing my husband to stand in lines with the kids on rides I know I should avoid we are looking at it as teaching patience to them yes the rides I can ride we will be utilizing my disability pass but majority they will be in standby lines.
Pluto
If you don’t want to wait in the standby line PAY for Genie+ and stop moaning about those that do.
Also, Michelle, quit with adults ruining things, Disney is NOT just for kids!
If anyone doesn’t like the way things work ~ and I admit I’m not happy with some but I suck it up ~ don’t go!!!!
Cio
Save up and go less often. Go VIP and spend your time doing other things.
Wade
If you want to really save money, make friends with someone that works there that can get you in for free, problem solved because now you have the money for the extras! LOL
ITS THE WAY TO GO KIDS!
Will
You contradicted yourself with the inclusive comment then saying it’s not for adults. Make up your mind, Karen. Also, people that pay for certain privileges should certainly be “entitled” to those privileges.
MaxedRemix
I went to Disneyland in Anaheim for my birthday last week. My favorite ride, Star Tours, was a 25min standby, or at least that was what it said… My partner and I got into the area where the standby and lightning lanes are next to eachother. (It didn’t help a cast member let the couple behind us go into the lightning lane because they made they cast member laugh.) This is where for every 5 guests in the standby lane go, the cast member at the top of the queue before the last room let every person in the lightning lane go. What was supposed to be a 25min standby turned into an hour and 15 minutes.
I love Disneyland, this bit was one of the many examples of my 3-day park hopper where I don’t think I’ll go again. For the last 15 years it has been my birthday trip, but the magic has run out. I’m glad I was at least able to see a mostly working World of Color this last trip.
Nope
Mario….You make me sick …. so people with disabilities shouldn’t go to Disney World?? Your what’s wrong with the humanity!
Kent
fine by me too. the park is too crowded with the morbidly obese in their scooters.
Fred
Solution is simple. Don’t go. If you don’t like a product, don’t buy it.
That is the ONLY thing that impacts a capitalistic corporation.
Paul
I was in the regular q for Pirates and the sign read 20 minutes. Took almost an hour due to the amount of individuals using Lightening Lane
S
When were our shortest waits? I will tell you. We go to Disney quite often, and have noticed the standby and the lightning lanes get slower (lightning when compared to fast pass. My suspicion is that more LL are sold a day then FP were given out, as it’s an income source. That seems to be the case, as well, from the comments here about cast card ratios). So essentially LL becomes a paid slower version of FP. Stand by is also slower, for obvious reasons. So, when was the shortest average wait time we experienced? It was back when capacity was up at the end of 2021, but there were no fast passes or lightning lanes yet. Yup, the good old fashioned every body waits their turn method. Those two months were AWESOME! The longest we ever waited was 35 mins, but most were a ten minute wait and we weren’t glued to our phones. We were able to ride all the rides at a park in one day, with plenty of time to spare. After experiencing that, I just wish they would do away with any sort of shortened line system. It was a much better experience.
Ariel
I’ve been to animal kingdom last week, and in Navi Rivers, we had a 50 min SB line, with my own eyes I saw Disney WAITING for LL guests to arrive, sending EMPTY BOATS and not letting SB guests in.
Nobody told me this, Ive seen it myself. DISNEY is making SB lines longer on purpose.
Nicole
Capitalism does work. When people stop paying to go to Disney because the product is devalued, Disney will change their ways. But as long as people are pouring in, still handing over their hard-earned money, they have no incentive to change. Thankfully I went under the old Fastpass system and was able to effectively plan our experience without encountering much line delays. Personally I wouldn’t go back to Disney unless I could afford the Lightning Lanes or VIP experience. I just don’t know how anyone could enjoy themselves standing in hour lines for almost every ride.
it’s time to take the rose colored glasses off of Disney and recognize it for what it is, a business machine. Their marketing, with their cute characters, pastel colors, and catchy tunes has fooled people into believing it’s some utopian fantasy world. Go to corporate headquarters and you’ll find out how “utopian” Disney is.
But I do have to chuckle at the irony I’m seeing here. there are millions (billions) of people who can’t even afford to go to Disney at all who are looking at the people crying about the Lightning Lane and calling you guys entitled. the same way you’re calling lightning Lane people entitled. Fact of the matter is there’s always going to be someone who can afford something you can’t. That’s just life.
People need to think of Disney like an airplane in which everybody has paid for a seat on the plane, but first class is awfully different. They get to board first, sit in larger seats with more leg room, served better food. Nobody complains about that because we recognize they paid enormously for that privilege. Same at Disney now. Everybody’s paid for an admission, but Lightning Lane is awfully different and has created a tier, class system divide.
So many people feel Disney owes them something. Why? You chose to go. You chose to spend over $100 for admission, after seeing report after report about how devalued the experience is now. And yet you still went then cry about what you already knew to be the case and demand Disney change because you’re unhappy. Now who’s the entitled one?
Disney is not a drug you’re addicted to. It’s not oxygen you need to breathe. You don’t HAVE to go.
Nicole
laissez-faire capitalism does work. It’s just we’ve never had it. There’s governmental intervention in every aspect of business. There are no free markets, which is the inherent premise of capitalism. But anyway, my argument remains. If people stop going to disney, Disney would change. Because they want your money.
Pete
What Disney has done is make the paid lightning lane the regular standby line with the stand by waits and the unpaid stand by the scum class wait line. They did offer a faster line bypass, they made just made you pay for the stand by or you can just wait for much, much longer for “free”.
Dennis
On a recent trip in late August we found 30 t0 40 lightening lane and genie + guests allowed in to ride que and 5 or10 stand by guests. Seemed a bit lopsided to us. It made the standby lane very slow. I understand letting paying customers have an advantage but the ratio was not fair.
Brooke
What kind of frosted me in terms of “priority treatment” was when I was on Smugglers Run, I was in the single rider line and I was either the shooter or mechanic. Never the pilot. I was able to go on 5 times in a row. On the 6th, while we were waiting for the line to come up, I asked the cast member “On average, how many times are single riders the pilot?”. Not to have that spot, but to get a better picture as I hadn’t ever been to Disney before. Her response? “About never”. So, I felt that I didn’t matter as a solo traveller compared to other group sizes, regardless of whether or not I purchased Lightning Lanes. Just something to keep in mind.
Ann
I was in the single rider line for Smugglers, and I asked if I could be a pilot, and the cast member just let me do so.
If you ask, they’re usually accommodating.
PJ
We were at Disney world the week of October 2, 2022.
We chose to go on the Peter Pan Ride which listed a 20 minute wait. We were on the stand by line for over 2 hours.
When we finally got close enough to see why the long delay. We found that while there were 3 or four cast members. Only one was managing the lines. He let only lighting lane guest go through and only standby were allowed when there where no more lighting lane people. In addition the people from the lighting lane were quite rude to us when they walked past us. Now I understand and agree it you pay the fee you should get a quicker result. Most other rides to from 10 to1 up to 30 to1 and standby actually has fairly continuous movement. But this was ridiculous. In addition the cast.mber heard us complaining amount ourselves and asked if we were step aside after the ride as a manager wish to speak to us. She only kept saying
We want all guest to have a positive experience. Quite the canned answer that translated to we really do not care.
Need to do better for all.
Ps. We also used lighting lane for some rides. And still felt like it was fair to do a mix of both lighting lane and standby.
Grace
Friendly reminder that the cast members that work the lines have no control over how many people they let through at a time. They have rules that they have to follow whether they agree with the system or not (and many of them don’t) so please be kind to them. Don’t yell at them or complain to them because it’s not their fault, and many people treat them like it is. I think most of us can agree that this system is unfair, but please don’t take it out on your regular cast members. They’re just doing what they’re told to do, and they’ll get in trouble if they don’t. If you have a problem, talking to someone higher up would be more beneficial (though they will likely not be able to do anything about it either unfortunately)
Rose
So, basically if you don’t buy Genie+ and or LL you are paying a high price just to walk around the parks. That is why our upcoming trip in the spring will be the last time we go to Walt Disney World.
Michael
Wowzers, didn’t have time to read all comments. Planning my trip for a 3rd visit from Australia too Disney. The price goes up, so what…we pay it, that’s life! If you don’t have the money, don’t go. Simple really. As to Walt and his visions….. Won’t be the first, won’t be the last to stray from a founders core values. It’s a business people.
SteveTX
Why are we debating the fairness? We should be asking: WHY IS DISNEY charging more, when FastPass worked just fine and don’t cost at all ???
Foxlloyd
They found a popular system everyone was using for free. It now has created another revenue stream. Squeezing every last penny out of their happy guests.
Tracie
Since the new CEO took over, Disney is no longer the happiest place on earth. There is no more prebooking of your rides until the day you are in the park. Genie+ is a total rip off and they know it!
markH
It’s simple put in a third lane for the disabled like with car spots.
Carl
After my last visit to Disney they can keep there overrated psrk. Too many people and all there extra charges. Park is now for only wealthy people not the average person . Not the old Disney anymore. My take you can have it ,will not go again had a miserable experience.
Foxlloyd
The system is broken. They need to go back to the ticket books & have no entrance fee. If you want to ride something, then everyone pays individually for it. If you don’t because the line is too long, then skip it.
Ace
Nothing magical about Disney anymore. Paid almost $2,500 to take the family on a long-awaited vacation, only to stand there like second class citizens as all the rich people cut in line all day.
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